A Light in the Darkness
by bikou-hokousha
Summary: Attacked and betrayed, he left them all behind to forge a new path...will he find a new life or seek revenge, will his friends remains and help him or will they turn their back on him [AU]
1. Prologue: Betrayal

Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto. I do own the OC's in this story.

A/N: If some people might not die when they are supposed to in this fic... Also can any tell me if Rin is dead or if she just disappeared? Also.. If you know what age they graduate from the academy... if you know plz either post it in a review or email me the answer. THX. I hope you enjoy my new fic...

Prologue

**Betrayed**

Uzumaki Naruto, in his second year as a student of the ninja academy and at the age of 7, was fast asleep after returning from a particularly hard day at the school. He never realized the importance of the day that he would wake up to. It was his seventh birthday and the festival of the Kyubbi's sealing. His dreams, which comforted him, seemed to be filled with the usual things that he dreamed about: RAMEN! Grunting in his slumber, he started to toss and turn. You could tell from the small whimpers coming from the boy, that his dreams were no longer something happy, but about his life and what he had to deal with everyday that he stepped outside his door.

Unknown to the sleeping boy, there was a group of five men standing outside his door. Each had a full face mask that covered up their faces completely, each depicted a different animal. Looking at them now, you would see that they were quietly debating with each other. "I don't care that he looks like a boy, that _thing_ is a **_demon_**. He killed countless ninja, just for fun!", the man with the boar mask hissed furiously at the man with the cougar mask. "Why does everyone want to kill this boy? All he has done is a few harmless pranks. I have never seen him intentionally hurt someone, in fact, quite the opposite. All I ever see him do is be cheerful and try to make people laugh. Is that so bad? To me, from everything I have heard, that boy just wants some attention.", he growled back, hoping to force some sense into his captain and make him see his point of view. "Do you seriously believe that bullshit, Cougar? Huh? Well? Do you?" one of the other men whispered. "Yea... How can you defend that... that... blasted _thing_, when it took your dad and your girlfriend from you?" the one with the snake masked snapped, eager to start. "It took hundreds of the best ninjas in this village to seal that piece of shit. Do you really want to keep them from the afterlife, just because he looks like a boy?" the man with the hawk masked said with a little venom in his voice. "... I ... I don't... I don't know..." the man with the cougar mask sighed in a confused tone. With a smirk the captain threw his arm over his subordinate's shoulders and said: "Well I do, and that boy is the demon and I will not let it live to destroy this village again." he said with conviction. The cougar masked man seemed to lose his doubt at these words and straightened up at hearing them. Nodding his head, Cougar started his part of the plan. Forming hand seals, he whispered: "Ninpo: Genson Akumu No Jutsu! (Ninja Art: Living Nightmare Technique)".

**x x x**

Inside the small apartment, Naruto had woken up from his nightmare and was in the kitchen getting a glass of water when it hit. With a scream, he pitched to the ground withering in a pain that seemed to fill his whole body. As he forced his eyes open, he saw the Hokage standing over him smiling at him with a cold malicious glint in his eye. "I finally have the chance to kill you… **demon**." Turning his head, he saw the 2 people that had taken care of him as a small baby and with a cry, he tried to crawl toward them. Just before he would have been stabbed, he moved his hand away from the incoming kunai. "Where do you think your going, **_demon spawn_**?" the man with the crooked mask sneered. "HAHAHA... Don't waste your breath on that piece of animal trash", the woman spat before trying to kick him. Naruto, who was shocked at these words, tried to stand but once again the fiery pain washed over him and seemed to set his small frame on fire. With a strangled cry, he started to drag himself toward the door to the outside and hopefully freedom. He managed to make it to the door and he had just enough strength left in him, for him to open the door and fall through it. Landing on his chest, he turned his head and saw the one person that he hoped would never truly hate him standing on his porch. Gazing up at the image of Sakura, he reached out to tried to touched her skirt but was stopped when 'she' stomped on his hand. "DON'T TOUCH ME! I HATE YOU NARUTO! YOU'RE SUCH AN IDIOT! HOW CAN YOU BECOME HOKAGE WHEN YOU'RE NOTHING BUT THE DEAD-LAST?" she screamed and grounded harder on his hand with her foot. Suddenly a hand appeared on her shoulder and as she looked behind her, she squealed in delight: "SASUKE-KUN! Did you come here to get rid of this **monster** too?" Smirking like usual, Sasuke just gazed at the broken boy lying on the ground and simply said: "Don't waste your time on this dobe Sakura. He can't do anything right... Just like all the dead lasts. Let's ignore him and go.", and with that both children walked away and disappeared around a corner. His head falling back to the ground, Naruto felt tears flooding his eyes as he remembered how he had come to meet those two children.

_FLASHBACK_

_Naruto, as usual, was sitting on the swings alone, silently rocking back and forth wishing that someone would play with him. As he looked around the playground, he saw someone being harassed by a pack of bullies and no one seemed to care. Slightly pissed, Naruto got up and headed over to the group. As he neared the group, one of the boys pointed him out and said with sneer: "Hey look... It's the monster." Turning around, the boys left a small gap in their line and from where Naruto was, he could see a mass of pink hair. At the sight of the young girl crying, Naruto drew back his fist and jabbed the leader straight in the jaw and dropped him. Turning to the other boys, he looked each one in the eye and was pleased to see them look away from his gaze before they scattered. Walking over to the sobbing girl, he lowered himself down till he was sitting on his haunches and gently reached out and patted her arm. "Hey... Are you ok?" he asked in a concern voice. Looking up from her hands, the young girl looked into a pair of piercing blue eyes. "Who... Who are you?" she stammered unable to believe that this boy wasn't going to pick on her for her big forehead. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and who might you be?" he asked in the manner that all innocent children did. "M-My name is Sakura. Haruno Sakura." she said warming up to the boy that had helped her. Just before Naruto could reply, he was interrupted by the girl's mother. "Sakura! Sakura, Where are you?" she was called. With eyes lighting up at the sound of her mom's voice, the girl jumped up and raced to her mother and hugged her legs. "There you are dear. Are you ready to go?" she asked pleasantly with a small smile. "Yes mama..." Sakura replied happily. "Wait... Mama, I want to show you the boy that protected me from some bullies." she exclaimed excitedly. Whipping around, she expected to see the boy standing where she had left him, but instead he seemed to have vanished. Looking around, she couldn't see him anywhere, so shrugging her shoulders she returned to her mother and they went home._

_The next day during her first day at the school, she saw the same boy sitting by the swings watching everything from afar. Deciding to go and talk to him, she strolled over and nearly gave him a heart attack when she said: "Hi again!" right in his ear. Flashing around, Naruto saw the girl and gave her a giant smile and pointed to the swing next to him._

_And so a childhood friendship began..._

_END FLASHBACK_

_FLASHBACK – 6 months later_

_The class had gone outside and started to do the taijutsu sparring that they did every week. Each student had pulled a name out of the hat, and each had fought until only two names were left: Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto. The class (or rather the fan girls) was buzzing at the prospect of the upcoming fight. Most of the class was betting on Sasuke to win hands down and only two maybe three people even thought of Naruto actually winning; those people included Hyuuga Hinata and Haruno Sakura (much to the distaste of the Sasuke fan-club). _

_"Sasuke and Naruto please step into the ring now." Iruka-sensei said getting ready to start to the fight. What he was not ready for was the sudden and total silence that followed his words. Turning around to look at the class, he stared open-mouth at the total rapture in which the whole class stared at the combatants. Shaking his head at the irony of everything, he sat down and said: "Uchiha Sasuke vs. Uzumaki Naruto. Match Begins!"_

_Immediately both boys rushed at each other, both hoping to score the first hit. Sasuke came in low and tried to sweep Naruto's feet out from under him, except he was ready for it and as soon as he saw Sasuke drop down, he launched himself into the air while grabbing the back on the raven-haired boys coat. As he neared the apex of his jump, Naruto threw Sasuke downward and gave himself a little extra height by using the boy's body to push off against. Sasuke slammed into the ground and barely moved in time to dodge the devastating kick that Naruto would have delivered to the boy's stomach. Grabbing Naruto by the ankle, Sasuke pulled him over his shoulder and slammed him into the ground; hard. Backing away, he was sure that he had won and was about to turn around and take his seat when all of a sudden, he was pulled backward grinded into the dirt. Jumping up, Sasuke turned around and saw a panting Naruto, standing a few feet away. Smirking, Sasuke again rushed the blonde and almost hit him except at the last second he ducked. With his defense open, Sasuke got an uppercut to his chin and with a heavy thud; he landed on the ground and slowly got to his feet. Turning back around to face his opponent, he saw Naruto collapse on the ground from exhaustion. Putting his features in an unreadable mask, he walked back into the classroom and waited for the rest of them to follow him in._

_Because of Naruto's persistence that day, He earned a rival and a friend of sorts._

_END FLASHBACK_

**x x x**

With a deep rumbling growl, Kyubbi woke with a start. _'This feeling… I haven't felt this emotion in quite sometime.'_ he thought to himself. Looking around, he noticed the bars that surrounded him; with a lazy yawn he tried to bat them away with a backhanded swipe of his gigantic paw. Receiving a shock after making contact with the bars, he tried to swipe them away repeatedly. Now licking his throbbing paw, he took the time to look around him and he noticed that he wasn't in the real world any longer. With a deep loud laugh, Kyubbi couldn't help but grin at he knew had happened. Thinking back, he reviewed the events that lead to his predicament and just smiled evilly, his only regret was getting caught... Shaking his great head, he decided to take a short nap, before doing anything else.

**x x x**

With Naruto…

He jerked back from the flashbacks and again tried to regain his feet. Failing and smacking his head against the hard sun-bleached wood on his porch, Naruto's vision began to swim and unfocused itself. Raising his head and shaking it to clear the double vision and the dizziness from his head, he noticed something different about his surroundings. Seeing the most elite ninja's of the village standing on his porch emitting an evil, killer aura, Naruto scrunched up and tried to block out most of the pain that was now being suddenly rained upon his body, by the shinobi. As each blow slammed itself into his body, he thought about the Hokage and all the other people that he saw and what they had said, not realizing the three people in his apartment were no longer. The more he thought about it, the more betrayed he felt, the more he realized that he had been suckered into believing a lie and he was now paying for it... with his life.

**x x x**

As each new wave of angry emotion went through Naruto's mindscape, they began to build up and intensify until the point were they were so powerful that they resonated through the seal and woke up Kyubbi. Shaking his head to clear the sleep from his mind, the giant fox sniffed the 'air' and smelt the acid smell of betrayal in the air. Wondering what the hell was going on, Kyubbi sent some sensors out to use the link between Naruto and himself and look through the boy's senses. Seeing what was happening outside and what the men were saying, Kyubbi knew exactly how this had started. With a growl of anger, he unintentionally sent a wave of demonic chakra past the seal and into the blonde's body were it, with no instructions from the body, attempted to heal the fox-boy's numerous wounds. Noticing what happened, Kyubbi pumped more chakra, in small enough dosages so that it got past the seal, into the boy's body to heal it and strengthen it. As he pushed chakra through the seal, images started to come to him, none of them made any sense to him until he realized that these were the memories of the human child that he was sealed inside of. As he watched the memories, the pain of the physical abuse and the mental anguish that the boy had been through filled his body. Some of the memories were more vivid then others; for example: when he was beat up for just trying to buy some groceries, or the time he was almost killed for trying to go to the festival about the sealing of Kyubbi. The same scenes were being replayed in the boy's own active mind. As each memory came, it intensified the feelings of the one before it. As more memories came the pain skyrocketed and made Naruto to slip into unconsciousness and enter his mindscape. Kyubbi, who saw the boy appear lying down in front of his cage, couldn't help but feel a little... sad... Knowing that he was the cause of so much pain and loneliness for this boy. He tried to push more and more chakra to heal and protect the boy's body until the assailants have enough of their 'fun' when suddenly a feeling of weightlessness filled him. The next thing he knew was a strange tingling all over his body and darkness; then he felt the punch that slammed itself into him. Not prepared for the blow, he whimpered in pain and because of it he was hit even harder. As more blows rained his body, Kyubbi used his centuries old mind to figure out how he could be feeling a pain like this inside someone's head; unless...Figuring out what happened, he tried to summoned more and more chakra through the seal until it was flowing around him like a candle light around a wick.

The Anbu that saw what was happening backed away from the suddenly glowing red boy that was shakily standing up. Looking up at his attackers, he glared at them and saw them flinch back at the sight of his eyes. They were blood red with a long black cat-like slit running the length of each eye. Grinning from ear to ear, Kyubbi, now in control of Naruto's body, saw the damage that the ANBU had caused. The grin faded from his features and was replaced with a smirk that promised centuries of pain to the quaking men that stood before him.

**x x x**

In the Hokage's Office...

The Hokage had been having a strange feeling of foreboding creeping up his spine all the late afternoon. No matter what he did, he could not shake the feeling of losing something very important. Deciding to check the village, he moved to his meditation room, sat before his crystal ball and gazed into its depths. As his gaze roamed over the village, he thought about the young boy that he looked upon as a grandchild. Focusing the ball on the boy's apartment, he noticed a group of chakra signatures clustered around the apartment and an even larger one in the middle of that one. The surrounding chakras were the regular blue color, but the other at the center was a blood red and had the feeling of utter destruction swirling in it. With a gasp, the Sandaime, knew immediately what was transpiring at Naruto's apartment. Rushing out into the outer office, he snapped his fingers and summoned two ANBU to his presence. "Get Kakashi, Rin, and the rest of the ANBU! NOW!" he yelled and with a puff of smoke the ANBU disappeared rushing about their tasks. A few moments later the two ANBU arrived back with the others in tow. "You summoned us, Lord Hokage?" Kakashi asked in a calm voice and a face that could be used as an ANBU mask for all the emotion it showed.

"Yes I did. It seems a group of people have taken it into their own hands to rid the village of its greatest hero." he said barely containing the anger that was boiling threw his veins.

Rin, who was smarter then most of the people in the room thanks to her medical training caught on first and with a gasp, she looked to her ex-teammate and saw the Hokage's words strike home. Both jounin looked to the Hokage for confirmation and at the sight of his nod; they were barely able to contain the rage that started to redden their eye sight. The ANBU also caught on to what their lord had said and immediately tensed ready for what came next.

Sarutobi felt the obviously tensing atmosphere and wished that he did not have to say what he had to now. "Because of these individuals' actions, the beast has awaken from its slumber in the boy's body and it may have gained control of his body.", he stated in a quiet voice that had no trouble carrying itself to the back of the room.

"We need to get their immediately then!" Rin shouted as she thought about what might be happening to the boy that she had taken care of when he was but a small child. Kakashi just looked to the Sandaime and waited for the nod of his head before he vanished from the room, racing toward the apartment in hopes of reaching the child in time to do _something_. Rin, who saw her teammate vanish, decided to follow his example and also puffed out, running in Kakashi's wake.

Pointing a finger in the direction that the two jounin had taken off in; the Hokage said only one word that could possibly be sending over 20 people to their death if the worst had come true. "GO!" he said with as much force as he could muster. Returning to his ball, he watched as the group of people, he had seen earlier, stepped out of the shadow of the surrounding buildings and into the street. Eyes widening in horror, Sarutobi watched as the boy he had known as Naruto followed them. He saw the hellish red chakra that swirled around him and hoped that he wasn't too late.

**x x x**

Naruto/Kyubbi stalked toward the 5 people that had been previously beating him to death and smirked, he was going to enjoy disemboweling them. Rushing toward the closest person, he swiped his clawed fingers at the man's stomach and watched as the man's skin opened and revealed the muscle beneath. Turning around, he shot out his hand and rammed it through the man that had tried to hit him from behind. As he withdrew his arm from the ANBU's insides, he watched the spark of life extinguish itself in the man's eyes, his face set forever in a pained expression. Grinning like the fox he was, Naruto/Kyubbi attacked the other ex-avengers and made the sky rain blood that day.

**x x x**

The group that the Sandaime had sent watched as the boy shredded his assailants' body without a pause. Both Kakashi and Rin couldn't believe that the small smiling boy that they had watched over for 7 years could do such a sadistic act and not even feel any remorse about it. They watched as the blonde boy, turned toward them and they and the ANBU collectively gasped at the sight. The boy was totally encased in a fiery red chakra of evil intent. Turning back to the apartment, the boy started toward the building only to be intercepted by 2 squads of ANBU sent by the Hokage. Smiling evilly, Naruto/Kyubbi charged their ranks but was thrown back by the multiple Suiton jutsus that the ninjas had thrown at him. Getting up with a growl, he repeated his charge and attacked the ANBU.

**x x x**

Sarutobi, who was looking on from his crystal ball, watched as the boy was repeatedly thrown back into the street. Getting up, Sandaime jumped out of his window and onto the rooftops and sped toward the fight reaching it in no time seeing as he _is _the Hokage. Just as the boy was pushed back into the street again, he puffed into existence and caught him.

Looking up, Naruto/Kyubbi saw one of the men from inside his house and immediately jumped from his grasp and dropped down into a fox-like crouch quickly switching his gaze between both the Hokage and the squads of ANBU. Hearing a couple popping noises, he snapped his head back toward the Hokage and saw a man and a woman appear beside the Sandaime. Snarling as menacingly as he could, he started to slowly back away.

Rin, seeing Naruto's actions, reached out and called to him in a pleading voice: "Naruto... Please calm down. We don't want to hurt you." Seeing that her words had no effect on the boy, she looked to the other people beside her and saw Kakashi step toward the boy. Naruto/Kyubbi seeing the man's actions jumped back a couple feet and crouched down ready to spring in any direction. Kakashi paused in his advance and took a backwards step. "Naruto... Listen to us. No one wants to hurt you. We just want to protect you." he said in a voice that showed the strain in his normally laid back nature.

Kyubbi, who was in control of the boy's body, laughed in a barking manner and smirked sadly at the people before him. "You want to protect **me? **HAHAHA... Why would you want to protect a **_demon_**?" he yelled in a raspy voice having trouble speaking, not used to a human's vocal chords.

**x x x**

Both Sasuke and Sakura, who were just about to go to sleep, felt or rather sensed something happening. Jumping over to their respective windows they both looked toward the village and saw the reddish glow coming from the middle of it. Forgetting their bedtimes, they each threw on some clothes and raced to the streets and in the direction of the strange glow.

**x x x**

Naruto and Kyubbi, whose personalities had temporarily synchronized due to Naruto's emotions ringing in Kyuubi's head, stayed where he was, warily watching the people that had come after him. Looking over to the man with the crooked mask, he looked at the single eye that could be seen and revealed his long canines. "Do you really think that I'm that stupid? To let you take me somewhere where you can kill me without all the fuss? There is no way that I'm coming near you, you pitiful excuses for humans. Not after you finally revealed your true feelings to me.", he snarled out as he started to back farther away. As he got about fifteen feet away, he suddenly turned and sped off toward the main gates as fast as he could. The ANBU, seeing where he was going got there just before he did and pushed him back with as many Suiton jutsus as they could throw at him.

**x x x**

Sakura and Sasuke had met up in the center of the city when they saw the glow starting to move away from where it was. So deciding to find out what was happening together, they followed the glow and reached it just in time to see Naruto get blasted back hit by some water jutsus.

Scrambling up from the ground, Naruto/Kyubbi saw that he barely had enough chakra left to escape after blocking as much of those water jutsus as he could and healing all the injuries that he had gotten. Hearing thuds behind him; he leaped to the side and turned to face the new threat. He saw the people from earlier standing there and looking at him with pleading eyes, except he knew that it was all a lie. Feeling two more people near-by, he looked to his right and saw Sakura and Sasuke coming from the corner and stopping there with their mouth wide-open. Now he knew that his life was...a hoax. He watched as the three older people started toward him. He had to get out of there now before they caught him. Deciding on his course of action, Kyubbi started forming hand seals and as he finished he called out: "Houka Shundan No Jutsu (Fire Flicker Technique)" and with a flash of light he disappeared just as Kakashi reached him.

**x x x**

In the middle of the forest outside of Konoha...

There was a blinding flash and a boy suddenly appeared. Slumping to the ground, Kyubbi lost all the chakra that he had given the boy, his body having reached its limit, and he was slowly losing control of the body. Looking around quickly he saw a small cave in a hill no too far away. Stumbling toward it, he fell to the ground in the back of it and let out a hiss of pain. Just before he had flickered out he had been stabbed with a couple kunai that the ANBU had thrown at him. Pulling them out, he discarded them and saw that the wounds weren't healing with the little bit of chakra he had left. Thinking quickly, he did the only thing he could do. He decided to use a sleeping jutsu that would heal the body and give him enough time to talk to and train the boy that he had tried so hard to protect today. Biting his thumb, he drew a circle with a triangle on his forehead and chest. Since he was already lying down, he made a quick series of foreign hand seals and ended with the human seal of the tiger. "Mayu Honjen No Onijutsu (Cocoon of Origin Demon Technique)", he whispered and felt the threads of chakra begin to encircle the body and take over its function as it was put into stasis. As much as he wished that he had killed the human that had trapped him inside this meatbag, he also didn't want to have a weak vessel, nor did he wish for this young kit to be killed for something that he had no control over. Even for a demon that was just pure evil.

As the boy's body's functions shut down, he withdrew from the boy consciousness and looked at the human as he lay tossing and turning in his sleep. Reaching out with one of his tails, he blanketed the boy with it and smirked as the boy settled down into a deep slumber.

**x x x**

Back in Konoha...

Everyone but the ANBU returned to the Hokage's office to go over that night's events. The ANBU had got to see if they could find the blonde boy and return him to Konoha. As each person in the Hokage's office thought about what they had heard the boy say before he bolted, they realized that they were as much the problem as he was. Sakura, who was curious about what had just happened, furrowed her brows in thought trying to piece everything together. She almost had it but her concentration was shattered when the Hokage spoke up. "Is there anything that you wish to know you two?" the Hokage asked the children knowing that both Kakashi and Rin knew what had happened that night. "Yes there is, Hokage-sama." Sasuke said. "What happened to Naruto?" Sakura asked calmly while she gazed intensely at the Hokage. "Hmm... Well from what I was able to gather from some of the reports and my own observations, it appears that his attackers put a genjutsu on him that made him see things and those visions said things and made him feel... betrayed... for a lack of a better word. After that the beating that he got from the ANBU he killed later on pushed him over the edge." the Hokage explained calmly with as serene a face as he could muster. "What do you mean by 'pushed him over the edge'? Is that how he got so powerful?" Sakura asked while Sasuke just nodded, the image of the wild-looking red-eyed boy replaying in their mind. Sighing, the Sandaime got ready to either get the boy life-long friends or eternal haters from some of the only people that have accepted him. "No Sakura... That is not how he got so powerful... Although it was what unlocked his power." taking a deep breath he asked: "Do you remember what you learn of the Kyubbi in your classes in the academy?" he asked in a slightly strained voice. Both students nodded their head, but were curious about how that had to do with Naruto. "Well you see... What you learned was a lie. Kyubbi was not killed, but it was sealed by the fourth into a newborn babe that was born that very day." he said and with that he waited for them to figure it out their-selves.

It took Sakura all of two minutes, but when she figured it out she almost fainted. "You mean that Naruto is the... Ky... Kyub... Kyubbi?" she stammered her face set in a mask of horror to match her voice. As soon as Sakura said that, it clicked into the other child's head also. They both looked over at the Hokage and saw him nod. Sakura couldn't believe that Naruto could hide something like this, not something as big as this. All sort of images began to run through her head like Naruto going on a killing spree in the classroom or other things like him turning to the gigantic fox the demon was described to be until a word the Hokage said clicked in her mind and erased all other thoughts "A-Ano... What do you mean _'sealed'_ inside... Like he _is _the Kyubbi is he not?" she asked afraid of the answer. The Hokage shook his head at her and said: "No... No, Naruto is not nor will he ever be the Kyubbi. He is the jailer of Kyubbi and not the prisoner." Turning to the Uchiha, the Sandaime asked: "What about you Sasuke? Is there anything you would like to ask?" he quizzed in his normal voice. "Why weren't we told about this?" asked Sasuke, his face serious. The Sandaime sighed deeply before answering. "I passed a law after seeing what was happening forbidding anyone to speak about the truth of the defeat of Kyuubi ever again" Met with two confused looks he continued "You see, the Yondaime wanted Naruto to be seen as a hero, for he was the key that allowed the Yondaime to perform the jutsu to vanquish the demon; plus he's the only thing standing between It and us. But when I made the announcement people started threatening him and asking for his immediate execution. The situation was slowly turning to a riot so I proclaimed the law with that everyone who would break it and speak about the link between Naruto and Kyuubi would be very severely punished. Iv' done this to try and protect Naruto and the children from the distorted truth that Naruto was the Kyuubi reincarnated, thus allowing children like you to go on with the demon's 'death' and giving Naruto a chance to make friends his age and live as normal a life as possible. Sadly I again failed and couldn't protect Naruto." Sasuke was puzzled by the last piece of information and turned to Sakura only to see her fixing the floor with a look of…shame? Catching the exchange the Sandaime addressed Sakura "Did your parents talked to you about Naruto Sakura?" snapping her head up, she looked at the Hokage for a moment before lowering her gaze again. "My…My dad always told me to stay away from him and my mom said that he was dangerous and would hurt me." Turning to Sasuke the Sandaime said "That is why I have failed Naruto…again. People fear what they don't understand, and when they can't fight that fear it transforms into hate. And now this." There was no mistaking the strain and sorrow coating the old man's voice. He regained his composure and fixed the two children. "So do you have anything you would want to ask me?" Shaking their head, Sasuke and Sakura went back to thinking about his words; Sakura saw the truth in them and knew that she couldn't be mad at the boy for not telling anyone, though she was still a little doubtful about Naruto, his red slitted eyes burning with rage and hate replaying in her mind. Sasuke's thoughts were traveling pretty much about the same line, except he was pissed and somewhat jealous that Naruto had kept his problem from ruining his life, where he, Sasuke, had let it consume him _'How could he go on for so long, always smiling when he was treated as badly as the Hokage's suggesting?'_. Resolving to change that fact, he looked back at the Sandaime and waited for what ever came next. "If that is all you two, then your dismissed." the Hokage said tiredly and waved his hand to show them to leave. Nodding their heads, they turned and left the office and headed for home. The Sandaime looked over at the two Jounin that had worry plastered all over their faces and simply did another wave and sent them on their way too.

As soon as the door closed, the Hokage turned to his window and wondered aloud: "Where are you, Naruto-kun?"

**x x x**

Both Sakura and Sasuke, as different as they may be,share the same thought with the Hokage, as they climbed into their bed that night. 'Where are you Naruto?'

-------------

A/N: Thx for reading... Hope you liked it so far... PLEASE READ AND REVIEW...WHY? CAUSE REVIEWS MAKE ME ALL WARM AND FUZZY INSIDE!... rofl.. again thx for reading...

Dragon Noir: I helped check and modify some things, nothing major but PLZ REVIEW, he's insufferable if he doesn't have his quota.


	2. Red Shadow

Disclaimer-I don't own Naruto... If i did then Toonami wouldn't have the rights to it and Adult Swim would...

KEY

scene change

bold – Kyubbi speech

italics – flashback

'blah' – thoughts

"blah" - regular speech

bold with ' ' - Kyubbi thoughts

Chapter 1

**Red Shadow**

It has been four years since the day that the village of Konoha felt the fear of Kyubbi's return. It was a year and a week ago today, that the newest ninjas had graduated from the Ninja Academy and had been put into their teams. Team 10 which consisted of Sarutobi Asuma(jounin) Yamanaka Ino(genin), Nara Shikamaru(genin), Akimichi Chouji(genin), advanced at an average pace... no thanks to Asuma who preferred to play Go with Shika. Team 8 under Yuuhi Kurenai(jounin) consisted of Inuzuka Kiba(genin), Hyuuga Hinata(genin), Aburame Shino(genin). Team 9 also known as Team Gai (A/N: don't know if there is a team 9.. if so plz tell me) under Maito Gai consisted of Hyuuga Neji(genin), Rock Lee(genin), Tenten(genin). Team 7 under Hatake Kakashi(jounin) consisted on Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura(much to her delight and Ino's anger). Considering the fact that Team 7 was one member short the Sandaime assigned a second jounin to the team. Kayou Rin, medic-nin who was only bested by Tsunade the Legendary Slug Sannin, or so she thought, was put on the team to balance the team. Each jounin, seeing as they could, took one of the genin on the team to personally train. Kakashi took Sasuke because they both shared the sharingan, and because of his guilt over Obito. Rin took Sakura because of her near-perfect chakra control and her amazing ability to memorize things. For a year, teacher taught student and they trained together; all the while taking low level missions to get a steady income.

Team 7 was just returning from a C rank mission that they took and they had the gates of Konoha in view when Kakashi noticed that they were being followed. Subtly looking back over his shoulder, he saw a black cloaked figure a good distance off trailing them. Not seeing a forehead protector of any sort, he signaled to his companions and both the genin took to the undergrowth. Making sure that both Sakura and Sasuke were well hidden, he twitched his head and both Rin and himself stopped and turned to face the newcomer. Watching it approach, Kakashi couldn't help but see the grace of the figure's movements. Taking that into account, he assumed the invader was a female. Rin, who was the loudest, called out the challenge. "Stop and identify yourself!" she shouted in a firm authoritative voice. They watched as the figure didn't even seem to pause as it continued its advance. Luckily for them, she (Kakashi still thinks it's a she) was coming down the center of the road and was making to move to deviate. Stepping apart, Rin and Kakashi set themselves for battle. As 'she' passed between the two shinobi, Kakashi grabbed its arm and attempted to send it flying into a tree. The only thing wrong with that plan was the fact that it was he who was flying into the tree. Scrambling back to his feet, he looked around for Rin and saw her crumpled on the ground in a heap. Rushing to her, he was relieved to see her getting up. Helping her up, he saw the cloaked stranger continuing on its way as if nothing had happened. Using sign language, he told Sasuke and Sakura to run to the gates and alert the ANBU there of what was heading their way. Looking at Rin, Kakashi nodded his head and together, they fell back into a rear guard position to make sure that the figure didn't go anywhere else.

As they neared the gates, both jounin sighed at the sight on a squad of ANBU waiting for them. Slowing down, they let the mysterious person proceed toward the gates. As soon as 'she' was close enough, the ANBU squad leader stepped forward and said in a clear voice: "Identify yourself. Comply and there will be no trouble. Do not comply, then we'll having nothing left to do but resort to force." Halting in its stride, the figure reached up and grasped the side of its hood. Drawing it down lower, he brought his hands down and started forming hand seals. Jumping into action, the ANBU attempted to stop him but before they could do anything he had finished his seals and ended with the tiger seal. To the amazement of the ANBU and Team 7, a dark swirl of darkness seemed to pool around his feet. With the suddenness of a thunderclap, his body seemed to explode in darkness and he was gone. Thinking about what seals the figure did, he realized that the person had transported themselves somewhere and the only place he could think of was the Hokage's office. "He's after the Hokage. Go!" he shouted and with that the ANBU puffed out as they sped toward their leader's office. Looking back to his teammates, Kakashi nodded and they too ran toward the tower in hopes of seeing the unfolding events.

Reaching the tower, they saw ANBU buzzing around the tower like angry worker ants. Walking forward, he flashed his id and entered the tower. Heading up the stairs, he reached the Hokage's office and knocked. "Who's there?" was the reply. Raising his only visible eyebrow to his teammates he opened the door, and was almost turned into a pincushion by all the kunai that were suddenly air born in his direction. "HEY HEY HEY... Calm down, jeez. It's Kakashi and team 7 reporting back to the Hokage." he said projecting his voice past the now very shiny door. "Come in Kakashi." came an older voice. Cautiously walking in, he tensed up ready to spring in any direction should more pointy objects find themselves on a collision course with his body. What he and his team saw in the room made their jaws visible drop, although for some it was restricted by the mask that they wore. The Sandaime Hokage was surrounded by no less then twenty ANBU armed to the teeth with weapons. Raising the same eyebrow that he had earlier, he approached the desk and bowed. "Mission complete. No injuries or odd happenings to report. Although on the way here, we brushed up against a stranger that wouldn't say who they were or what they wanted." he said after straightening. Nodding his head, the Sandaime dismissed them with a wave of his hand. As a group, they returned to the ground floor and exited the building before parting ways, each to their own homes and beds. This ended the day of Team 7.

Next Morning...

Sakura awoke to the usual day in Konoha. The bright sun shining through her window and a gentle breeze rippling the drapes. Smiling wistfully, she got up and made her bed before proceeding to do the daily hygiene routine. Walking downstairs, she heard and smelt the mouth-watering aroma of cooking bacon and eggs and hurried down the stairs two at a time. Bursting into the kitchen, she kissed her mother and father good morning and sat down to breakfast.

Sasuke POV

Sasuke had been up for at least the last two hours. Unable to sleep, he had gone out and trained before taking a shower and eating a small breakfast. Finishing up and washing the dishes, he headed out to Team 7's meeting place.

Sakura POV

Finishing her breakfast, she put her plate in the sink and gave her mom and dad a good bye hug before bolting out the door toward Team 7's meeting place.

Normal POV

As both the genin reached the bridge, they are stunned to see Kakashi already there. 'WTH? ... He's here... _early_?' Sasuke thought numbly. Both genin and the jounin turned to the sound of a heavy thud to their left. Rin had fainted from the surprise. Chuckling at his teammate's reactions, he stepped over to Rin and lightly slapped her to wake her up. Grabbing her hand, he helped her stand. Turning back to Sasuke and Sakura, he cleared his throat and said: "We have another mission today." Both genin groaned at this. "It's a B rank, but it should be fairly easy." Sasuke and Sakura looked up at this statement. "What do you mean easy...? It's a freaking B rank!" Sakura shouted, while'inner Sakura' simply raised its fist with fire in its eyes. Sasuke just smirked at her and waited for their sensei to continue. "If you would have allowed me to finish... I was about to say that we are to escort someone from the gates to the Hokage's office." he finished cheerily before taking out his book and leaning against a railing. Eye twitching, Rin turned to the genin and watched as they looked at each other bemusedly before turning to look at her. Shrugging her shoulders, she sat down and meditated. Sasuke followed her example and also began to meditate like Kakashi had taught him. Sakura, who was too busy trying to figure out who could warrant a B rank mission for such a short escort mission, leaned against the opposite railing from Kakashi and pondered this development. It was about one in the afternoon when Sakura realized that she didn't even know when they were supposed to meet the person. Looking toward Kakashi, she saw him stand up and put away his book before clapping his hands and startling the two people meditating out of their trance. Gesturing to his teammates, Kakashi began to walk toward the gates. Falling into formation, the other people on the team subconsciously began to look for threats. Reaching the gates without incident, they stopped and waited for the man they were to escort to arrive. After about ten minutes, the gates opened to admit the last person they thought they would ever see. The cloaked figure walked toward them before halting and bowing. Returning the bow, Kakashi mentally reviewed the scroll and asked: "Are you Kage?" Nodding its head the figure waited for them to move before falling into the center of their group. As they walked, the crowds parted seeing the ninja with someone in tow heading for the tower. Upon reaching the tower they let their charge enter first before going in after. Forming a line, they walked up the stairs and reached the Outer office of the Hokage's suite. Looking to the secretary, she nodded and they proceeded to the door which was opened by the two ANBU guards. Entering the office, they saw four ANBU stationed around the office with two more directly behind the Sandaime. Bowing to the Sandaime, the team parted to show their charge, who followed their example and bowed. Straightening up, the Hokage motion with his hand and Team 7 took that as permission to leave. Turning around they made for the door but were stopped by the Hokage's voice. "Don't leave yet... This concerns your team Kakashi, and as they are part of that team they should also be here." he said in a sage-like voice. Turning back around, the whole team nodded and retreated so that they were behind the cloaked figure. The same thought was buzzing around each of their heads. 'What does this have to do with us', although the exception was Kakashi, who was thinking along the lines of: 'Man... I wanted to read my Book.'

Sarutobi returned his gaze back to the newcomer and gave it a steady look. "You said that you wanted to become a Leaf shinobi, did you not?" he asked calmly. The figure nodded but otherwise remained still. "You do know that it is illegal to assault another leaf shinobi outside of training or an arena, do you not?" he quizzed and again a simple nod was the only answer. "For such actions as you have taken, are punishable by imprisonment. Although I may be convinced to be forgiving and allow this _mistakes_ to slide if you reveal yourself and your true reason for being here.", he said with an ever growing edge to his voice. The figure seemed to pause at this but it slowly reached up and unclasped the silver emblem that held the cloak closed. As momentum took the robe, if flashed open and revealed a blood red breastplate with buckles running its length (imagine Vincent from FF7's armor), the robe fell loosely closed again at that point. "You wish for me to identify myself, yet you already know me, or at least you did." the figure replied in a deep voice that did not have any ill intent in it. Sarutobi was looking at the figure quizzically, but slowly, like the wearing down of a canyon by a river, realization dawn on his features. Jumping to his feet, he watched as the figure reached for the hood with both hands and began to lower it.

"I am Uzumaki Naruto, and I am here to become a shinobi of the Leaf." he said in a clear voice and then let the hood fall open. The Sandaime and everyone else in the room, even the ANBU, gasped in surprise and shock at the young boy that stood before them. Naruto had changed in the four years of his disappearance. He had the same hair style and cut but his hair had red streaks through it and the tips seem to also be a light orange in color. His face had lost most of his baby fat, revealing a strong masculine face with a pair of deeply set blue eyes that seemed to chill you to the bone when you looked at them. None of them could see his body because of the cloak, but from the way he stood, the more experienced ninja could tell that he had under gone intense training. Rin and Kakashi were looking at each other with looks akin to sorrow and happiness. They were sad because they were unable to stop the bright cheery boy from losing his sense of joy and becoming what he was now: cold. But they were also happy that they just might have a chance to change him back, not to mention make it up to him for leaving him alone. Turning to the boy, they both gave small smiles as they looked him over. Sakura and Sasuke were both thinking the same exact thing: 'Wow... He's changed...' Sasuke couldn't help but feel weak when he looked at the young boy that had survived for four years outside, alone. Sakura, surprisingly... or not, was thinking along completely different lines. 'How could you come back here... especially after all that you have been through?' Sarutobi, who out of the whole group, was the most surprised could only think one thing: 'I'm glad your back.' Rearranging his robes, he sat back down and motioned for Naruto to sit but was declined with a twitch of his head. Shrugging his shoulders, he cleared his throat and said: "As I said earlier, you, Naruto, will be joining Kakashi's team." he said as he motioned for them to step forward. "Tomorrow will be your first meeting with them, but for now we need to get you a place to live.", he said as he started opening drawers and shuffling papers until he found a set of keys. "These keys are to your new home. No one is using it, nor will anyone else. I'll have an ANBU show it to you. If that is all then you are dismissed." he finished fully expecting them to walk out. Team 7 did, but stopped when they saw that Naruto didn't even twitch. "What about my instatement?" he asked seriously. 'Oops... dammit. I forgot', the Hokage thought. Thinking fast he said: "Tomorrow Kakashi will test you. If you pass then you will be instated as a ninja of Konoha. Understand?" "Yes." was the only reply from the already retreating blonde. Passing by team 7, he didn't even glance at them before he was ahead of them and going down the stairs drawing up his hood and refastening his cloak. Looking at each other, team 7 broke up and each went home to think over that day's events, and what would happen the next morning.

Next Morning...

Team 7, including Kakashi, arrived at the training field to find Naruto already there. He stood in the middle of the clearing wearing the same outfit that he had the day before, although the hood was down. He watched as the rest of the team found trees to lean against as they watched the test. Kakashi, who took up a position opposite Naruto, bowed and took his looser stance. Naruto simply returned the bow and continued to wait. After about three minutes, Kakashi got impatient and rushed Naruto. Continuing to watch the onrushing jounin, Naruto just raised one hand and made it in a fist and before anyone knew what was happening, Kakashi was thrown into a tree by some exploding tags. Even after he lost sight of his opponent, Naruto never turned around to look for him; he just stood still and waited. Suddenly he bent forward and kicked straight back, and everyone was surprised to see Kakashi appear hunched over holding his stomach. Leaping backwards, Kakashi circled Naruto; he tried to analyze him but every move he made contradicted itself... The whole not moving, the then sudden attack; the other thing that he couldn't figure out was why Naruto hadn't used a single jutsu yet. That only made him extremely cautious. Still circling the statue that was Naruto, he suddenly flung a kunai at the blonde only to have it caught and sent right back. Smirking now, Kakashi suddenly disappeared and then reappeared right in front of Naruto. With a left jab, he punch Naruto right in the head only to have it flare out in a flash of fire... Whipping around, he saw the shuriken coming for him and he just took out a kunai to block it. Suddenly a voice called out: "Jouzan Shuriken (multiplication of shuriken)" and suddenly Kakashi was surrounded by shuriken. Pumping chakra into his legs he used it to jump up and over the oncoming projectiles. Reaching the mild safety of the forest, he thought about the situation: Naruto was obviously better then the average genin...that and he seemed to be thinking with a completely level head... something that Kakashi thought was nearly impossible for that boy. Seeing Naruto walk out into the clearing, he decided that it was his turn to play in the shadows...

Using the trees for transport, Kakashi made it behind the blonde and set his trap... "Did you really think you could beat me that easily?" he called out hoping to get a raise out of the team. He failed... miserably. Naruto simply flung a kunai at the voice. That was exactly what Kakashi wanted. As the kunai passed, it cut a trip wire that sent a barrage of pointy objects speeding toward the blonde. Realizing his mistake, said blonde made some hand seals and the same swirl of darkness appeared under him and just like last time he exploded and completely vanished. Looking around, Kakashi heard a whisper behind and back-flipped over it. Landing he put a kunai up to it and said: "Its over I won." "Don't be so sure Copy-nin." came the reply. With that, the 'Naruto' that he had with the kunai simply slit its throat and puffed out. Dropping to the ground, he tried to locate the real Naruto. Looking up, he saw said blonde on a branch staring straight at him. "Now it's over Kakashi." he said with a voice utterly devoid of emotion. Glancing down, he saw that he was about to break a wire if he moved even the slightest bit now... "What is this connected to?" he asked with a slight bit of worry in his voice. "It has ten exploding tags wired to it, and they are right below you." Dropping down, Naruto moved over to the trapped sensei and pushed down on the cord. "Get up.", he said in the same tone as last time. Getting up slowly, Kakashi backed away slowly. "Now How are you going to get out of that?" he asked curiously as he backed up into Rin and the others, for they had come over to see who had won. "Like this." and with the same movement he got off the wire and the next moment was engulfed in a large explosion. Getting back to their feet, team 7 rushed over to the spot where they had last seen the blonde and started searching for him. "If you are looking for me... then I am right here." came a voice from behind them. Yanking their bodies around, they saw Naruto perched on a log not to far away looking perfectly normal. "I believe that I won, Kakashi. Now please go and tell the Hokage, so that I may get my forehead protector." he said before closing his eyes and falling into meditation. Glancing at the others, Kakashi sighed then puffed out to do as Naruto had asked. Looking at each other, the two girls decided to do as he did and they to soon fell into meditation. Sasuke, who was too busy thinking about the test to sit quietly, couldn't help but wonder how the dead-last and stupidest ninja at the academy, had gotten so strong. After a time, he decided to join the rest of them for lack of anything better to do.

About two hours later, Kakashi returned and saw the three of his team sitting around each other meditating and Naruto still in the tree. Looking around and not seeing anything of interest, he took out his book to read until they got out of the trance. An hour later, Sakura opened her eyes feeling refreshed and full of energy. Looking around she saw Rin, Sasuke, Naruto still meditating, so she got up and walked over to a tree to do some chakra and regular exercises. It was about thirty minutes later, that the rest of them got up. Putting his book away, he walked up to Naruto and handed him a black clothed Konoha forehead-protector. Looking at it, Naruto unclasped his cloak and flung the ends around his shoulders; fully revealing his armor. The red breastplate that they had seen yesterday was still there although now you could see it in its entirety. The plate was over a dark shirt and extended to cover his shoulders and arms, ending about elbow level and then a black bracer covered the rest of his arms. A black glove covered both of his hands. His Legs were covered in baggy black pants with red lines going down the seams. His feet were covered in boots that although seemed rather inflexible, could flex just like any sandal. On his right leg were his kunai holster and another pouch that they couldn't see any immediate use for and on his left were his shuriken holster and again another pouch. Finished tying the protector to his bicep, he redrew the cloak closed and shut off their view of his armor. Walking away, he paused and bowed toward the group before continuing on his way.

To say that Team 7 was amazed with their newest teammate would be a large understatement. They were openly awed. Naruto had bested Hatake Kakashi, The Copy-nin, son of the White Fang of Konoha. That in itself brought attention to him from the ninja community, much to his displeasure. Then there were the fangirls (A/N: not as many as Sasuke's mind you)... They seemed to be everywhere, they were outside his home, they were even outside where he ate. This went on for about a week before Naruto began to use the shadows to get around the town. This had two benefits: One was the fact that the fangirls couldn't see him, and two was that the villagers couldn't see him either. As this went on, people would catch glimpses of a shadow that had a red tint to it. As more people saw it, people began to call it the 'Red Shadow'. They had no idea that it was just Naruto using a jutsu to sneak around. Nor did they realize that they just gave birth to a Legend...

End Chapter

TBC

A/N: Please Read and Review... It gives me courage to go on... THX

Dragon Noir: A review don't take more than a minute to send, think about it, a minute for you and a few hours for us, a good deal don't you think ? Some of you are probably confused with the jouzan shuriken technique Naruto used against Kakashi, no it is not the shuriken kage bunshin that we mistook; for those who have seen the anime, when the Sandaime use it to nail a certain wood box, the lone shuriken became a huge, and I mean huge, number, like 1 go to 100; this jutsu is a weaker version like 1 go to 20 if used with the same amount of chakra; Kakashi was surprised because he didn't know another jutsu could do this, and 20 shuriken puffing out in front of your face is a surprise in itself and let's not forget how much chakra Naruto naturally have, so with his training…(no I won't say more you'll have to wait eh eh)


End file.
